Six Local Students to Represent OPALCO at Co-op Leadership Camp

Connar Smith, Marne’ Cook, Cameron Schuh, Paige Carlson, Joe O’Bryant and Me’Taire Kilpatrick-Boe will represent OPALCO at the Youth Rally leadership camp at the College of Idaho this summer.

The OPALCO Board of Directors presented the Nourdine Jensen Cooperative Youth Scholarship Program award to five high-school students representing three islands: Cameron Schuh (Orcas), Me’Tairie Kilpatrick-Boe (San Juan), Paige Carlson (San Juan), Joe O’Bryant (Lopez) and Marne’ Cook (Lopez). 2011 Scholarship Winner Connar Smith (San Juan) was elected by his peers to return this year as a Youth Director.

Three of the students will receive a $500 scholarship check, once they are registered for continuing education, and all of the students will attend the Co-op Youth Rally leadership camp at the College of Idaho, sponsored by the Idaho Consumer-Owned Utilities Association. All of the students are eligible for additional scholarship awards at the Youth Rally. In the coming school year, the students will give presentations about the scholarship program and about energy efficiency to their peers.

The Nourdine Jensen Cooperative Youth Scholarship Program was established in 2010 by the Board of Directors to honor long-time board member Nourdine Jensen of San Juan Island, who served on the board for 37 years between 1965 and 2008. Nourdine believed in affordable, reliable electricity for the rural islanders of San Juan County and he believed in the cooperative model. In that spirit, the Scholarship Program was established to educate local youth about electric co-ops and public power, give them the opportunity to expand their horizons and to develop leadership qualities.

To learn more about OPALCO’s scholarship program, please visit https://www.opalco.com/programs/youth-rally-scholarships/. The Scholarship Program is open to high-school sophomore and/or junior students of OPALCO member families. Applications for the 2013 program will be accepted beginning in February, 2013.

OPALCO is our cooperative electrical utility serving more than 11,000 co-op member-owners on 20 islands in San Juan County. We provide electricity that is 95% greenhouse-gas free and is predominately generated by hydro-electric plants. OPALCO was founded in 1937 to bring electricity to our rural islands.